NOTES – 1919 February, page 1. [PMSS_notes_1919_001.jpg]
ABOUT THE PINE MOUNTAIN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL COLLECTIONS
This growing digital record provides an in-depth look at the historical records of Pine Mountain Settlement School, its surrounding Appalachian communities, and associated materials in the School’s archive. Located in Harlan County, in the southeastern corner of Kentucky, the remote Settlement School was founded in 1913 by Katherine Pettit, Ethel de Long [Zande], and William Creech, with the support of other local families. Located in Harlan County, Kentucky in Central Appalachia, Pine Mountain Settlement School was created to serve the educational and medical needs of the surrounding remote populations. Through the years its programs grew to satisfy a variety of needs. Educational outreach programs, medical clinics, Environmental Education programs for visiting schools, adult social service assistance, and arts education programs are just a few of the community-focused programs the School engaged in.
The focus through the years has remained on educational programming while engaging a broader population and broadening the diverse programming. The popular requests for Chapel weddings, hosting conferences and musical events, blacksmithing, fly fishing, weaving, pottery workshops, and annual wild-flower and autumn retreats, are just a few of the programs currently offered by the School for a broader population.
The large digital archive begun in 20210, now comprises over 2,800 + pages. It is derived from the on-site physical archive of the School’s 100-year history. The physical archive traces the history of the School’s evolution over it’s one-hundred-twelve years of institutional growth and change. Included are publications, photographs, arts, crafts, books, institutional ledgers, the live turtles and snakes and other critters in the Environmental studies lab, and more. The collections offer a diverse and lively learning environment.
The in-depth biographical records of students, staff, and visitors, encompass the institution’s breadth from 1913 forward. Handmade furniture, crafts, medicinal plant collections, seed collections, farm tools, and experimental agricultural projects, are well documented. The long history is also captured in a voluminous photograph collection. Digital files, while not comprehensive, are large and growing, and invite serious in-depth research. Currently, permission to explore the collections on-site is required as staffing is limited. Only a fraction of the historical material at the School is represented in this online record repository. Many of the unprocessed archives from the 1950s forward still hold secrets, dissertations, and memories and are largely restricted until processed.
Recognized by the National Register of Historic Places, the school’s physical site, and its structures are a part of the archive. A full inventory of physical properties and archival collection materials remains to be fully processed. The online archive selectively dives into important segments of the institutional history and its physical collections. It features records of key historical figures and most of the historical images. Records that have been deemed as important resources for research and the immediate community have also been highlighted. For example, most of the buildings on site were designed by Mary Rockwell Hook, one of the first women architects in the United States. The digital archive currently comprises over 2,800 pages. Most pages describe Pine Mountain Settlement School at its most intimate level —- through the voices of those who imagined it, built it, and helped it evolve into this twenty-first century. Most of the digital collections are provided in full text and with image access to the associated documents, biographies, bibliographies, craft history, building plans, genealogies, student records, lesson plans, botanical plant collections, and much more.
The extensive PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTIONS (well over 70,000 photographs) provide a rich visual journey through the School’s history (1913-2025). The student populations of the Boarding School Years from 1913-1949 comprise the bulk of online materials. Our current digitization efforts strongly reflect the Boarding School years (1913-1949), while selectively pulling from the later (1950 –present) programming. Later collections are particularly rich in materials that describe the development of the ground-breaking Environmental Education Programs that began in the early 1970s and that continue today.
Another associated collection highlight is the E.J. Carr Plant Center a large botanical collection gathered by a self-taught botanist. Carr’s work explores edible and medicinal plants in Appalachia and their identification and associated details, including the distribution of plant species in the region. Also of note, is the early childhood education program developed by Millie Mahoney for the Community. Her groundbreaking rural education work contributed to planning for the National Head Start program. These are but a few of the delightful surprises to be found in the over 2,300 published pages and images.
The Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections offers to the researcher and to community families one of the earliest and largest on-site collections of history related to the rural Settlement School Movement in Appalachia. It also affords a digital opportunity to explore a large number of the records of the rural settlement school’s continuing history. The three — the in-situ archive, the physical campus, a Historic Register site, and the unique surrounding Appalachian community, all together provide an in-depth record of the evolving importance of the rural Settlement Movement. Further, its potential contributions to an understanding of rural America and the ethos of life in these particular corners of rural America, also shine through. As Pine Mountain worked to integrate the expanding demands of the urban beyond, they found remarkable ways to bring urban and rural together. The exploratory range of amazing programs and communities of interest carries valuable lessons on living.
We are pleased to offer this record to the communities that built the archive and to offer it to those communities that can learn from its many lessons. We support the pride shown by the population of the Pine Mountain valley and surrounding territories. In this remarkable geography, humanity, and learning place, there are lessons for all. Today’s eagerness to find a way to grapple with rapid change seen in all our communities of interest, will welcome the slow and careful pace of Pine Mountain Settlement to grow place and to search out the best in community living. The archive offers many lessons, good and not so good that occur in community and history throughout the United States — indeed the world. Those who live within this Appalachian community have much to offer a broader audience. The sense of community, the practical wisdom, sustainability, sharing, devotion, and more seen in the long and unique institutional record. It is an exemplary record and a record with lessons for all of us, Appalachian or not. (Our Archival Mission )
OUR ARCHIVAL MISSION
The Pine Mountain Settlement School archival mission supports and draws from the institutional Pine Mountain Settlement School Mission Statement. The School operates under the watchful eye of representative Trustees, many from the regional Berea College. The Pine Mountain Settlement School Board of Trustees along with the School’s Director, guide the institution’s strategic planning goals. This is a model that has persisted with only a few adjustments since the founding of the institution in 1913. The President of Berea College has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1949 and had often shared in its governance.
The Pine Mountain Settlement School’s mission remains true to its long 112-year history and is focused on educational and social enrichment programs that draw on the local community but serve the broader Appalachian region and beyond. Once a boarding school with a progressive curriculum, Pine Mountain Settlement School’s recent educational programming has moved from a residential educational model to multi-faceted offerings of short-term environmental, cultural, medical, social, agricultural, arts and crafts, and other workshops and programs for all ages and interests. For the duration of its existence, the archive has not moved away from, nor will it move away from, a commitment to Pine Mountain as place and people. more …
035-Copy. Aerial view of PMSS campus, 1941. [garner_035-Copy]
OUR ARCHIVAL VISION
The Vision of the Pine Mountain Settlement School’s digital Archive is to create and provide a voice that will encourage and facilitate transformations in individual relationships of people and place within the broader culture of the Appalachian region and beyond. By providing easy access to a unique and extensive body of archival material about the region, the Pine Mountain Settlement School offers an opportunity for an in-depth exploration of one of the earliest rural settlement schools within the region. As expressed and acknowledged in the Kentucky Educational Television program, The Rural Settlement School Movement, the essence of the Kentucky rural movement, was prescient and unique.
The transformation of the people of Eastern Kentucky and the Southern Appalachians is a continuously unfolding and dynamic story. It is a story that has sometimes been misrepresented, violent, and romanticized, and only partially understood and described. By providing full-text documents and photographs in this digital archive we envision a deep, vibrant, and vital resource that will encourage further exploration. It is also a collaborative dialogue about the hidden and sometimes contested history of Appalachia and the rural settlement school and its integral contributions to the Appalachian milieu and to the country. We envision a broader dissemination of educational research materials across all public, private, and federal sectors interested in Appalachian cultures and lives. more …
The on-site and digital collections at Pine Mountain are complemented by the Settlement Institutions of Appalachia (SIA) materials held by the Berea College Archive, Berea, KY. The SIA selective microform collection of the early Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections covers the years of 1913 to 1983. The Berea microform collection duplicates many materials found in this Pine Mountain Settlement School Collection but is only a fraction of the onsite holdings. If deep research is desired, scholars would be advised to schedule an on-site visit to gain access to the full PMSS archival collections, including physical facilities of the National Historic Register buildings.
Since 1949 Berea Presidents and faculty have served on the Pine Mountain Settlement School Board of Trustees as trusted advisors. Recently the School reached out to the Berea College Special Collections and Archives to initiate a collaborative process to integrate the Pine Mountain and the Berea SIA microform archival materials in a more coordinated and accessible manner to interested users. Visit the Berea College Special Collections for more information.
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
NOTES
“NOTES” (seen above) is an essential tool for tracing the history of the Pine Mountain Settlement School and for understanding the Archive. Each year the School sends mailings to our interested communities and friends. That mailing, called “NOTES”, presents a bi-annual overview of events at the School. We are close to providing full copies of the Pine Mountain Settlement School NOTES online. Want to follow along and learn about the institutional history through its annual reports? NOTES 1919 is the first issue produced by the School. See: NOTES Index
What were some other top posts this month? What else are we working on?
DEAR FRIEND LETTERS Index
Similar to NOTES, the DEAR FRIEND LETTERS (1911- present) are written by the Pine Mountain School Directors and mailed to friends of Pine Mountain. They carry a chatty report of the activities and highlights at the school and community. The DEAR FRIEND LETTERS often contain as much information about the writer as about the School and region. The 1-2 page letters abound with historical information about the School, the Community, and individuals. They are important to anyone interested in learning more about PMSS, the Directors, families, Harlan County, KY., and life in Appalachia. The NOTES, and the DEAR FRIEND LETTERS are excellent starting places for researchers wishing to get a sense of the School’s history across time and a sense of the ebb and flow of life in the Central Appalachians.
FULL INDEX TO COLLECTIONS
GOOGLE search box
STILL NOT FINDING WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR? Alternatively, you can utilize the GOOGLE search box [above] to look up specific topics. Also, the use of an enhanced AI search engine for locating PMSS materials will quickly lead to related information throughout the expanding Web tools.
REQUESTING PERMISSION FOR THE USE OF MATERIALS IN THE COLLECTION
Work is ongoing with the materials in the Pine Mountain Settlement School’s physical collections and new material is frequently added as it is unearthed. Any for-profit use of archival material requires permission from the Pine Mountain Settlement School. If visiting in person, research scholars will need to arrange for their visit before arrival at the School [(606) 558-3571]. Appropriate citation of the research material is requested. See the following USE AGREEMENTS, citation guidelines, and details for USE and for requesting permissions.
If you wish to DONATE material, please see our DONOR AGREEMENT AND DEEDS OF GIFT or contact the School directly (606) 558-3571.
COLLECTION USE AGREEMENTS AND ACCESS GUIDELINES
PUBLIC USE OF MATERIAL FROM THIS ARCHIVE (Non-Commercial)
COMMERCIAL USE OF MATERIAL FROM THIS ARCHIVE
ORAL HISTORY RELEASE AGREEMENT
ORAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION – PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES
CITATION OF MATERIALS:
Any PUBLIC use of material must properly cite Pine Mountain Settlement School. Suggested: “[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. [date], Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. [date accessed]
COLLECTION DONATIONS
If you have material related to Pine Mountain Settlement School and wish to donate the materials to the school, please get in touch with our office to discuss your donation and the DONOR AGREEMENT. We are, of course, always delighted to accept monetary donations in support of the collections.
office@pinemountainsettlementschool.com or (606) 558-3571
UPCOMING EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS AT
PINE MOUNTAIN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL
VISITING OR STAYING AT PINE MOUNTAIN?
To learn more about the School’s current workshops, community interaction, annual events, and over-night stays, go to PINE MOUNTAIN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL Main Page where you will find information about visiting the campus, lodgings, current programs, and donating to the School.
Chapel. View of south flank and East entry. Spring 2012. [2012-03-23-05.47.00.jpg]
RECENT ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS
HISTORIES PMSS 1899 A Novel Excursion by Maria McVay
“A Novel Excursion” 1899, is important to the very early history of Pine Mountain Settlement School. As the first journey of Katherine Pettit into Harlan County with some interesting traveling companions, McVay’s account sheds light on Pettit’s choice of the area for a school. Fourteen years after helping to found Hindman Settlement School, Pettit left Hindman Settlement in Knott County and founded Pine Mountain Settlement School. Maria McVay recorded the 1899 trip for a Cincinnati newspaper. In 1901 Ellen Churchill Semple, a well-known geographer, also on the “Novel Excursion,” published “The Anglo Saxons of the Kentucky Mountains: A Study in Anthropogeography.”[LC copy]
GRACE M. ROOD – STORIES of “AMAZING GRACE”
The stories of Grace M. Rood describe the working life of a nurse at Pine Mountain Settlement School. The “Amazing Grace” GRACE M. ROOD entertains, vents, and reflects in these stories about her years of adventure serving the rural community and the PMSS School. As an early graduate of the Johns Hopkins nurse-training program, she first served as a nurse in rural India where she learned to be self-sufficient. Her early training was well suited to the many challenges she faced in her long career in the Appalachian mountains. The stories of her life are truly AMAZING.
LETTERS To a Sweetheart A fitting selection for February, this is a very large, and lively correspondence of Olive Coolidge, a Pine Mountain Settlement School worker and her sweetheart, Robert Butman, in the early years of WWII. A descendant of the COOLIDGE FAMILY, Olive was not silent like her famous relative Calvin. Olive and Robert capture the delight of first love and the tensions of the rural work at the School and the world of young lovers negotiating the war in two very different environments. This very large collection of letters and photographs was recently donated in digital form by Marcia Butman, the grandniece of Olive Coolidge and a relative of Presidents Calvin Coolidge and distantly, Thomas Jefferson.
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WHAT’S NEW Latest Digital Additions – Lists of pages that have been recently updated or newly published on the PINE MOUNTAIN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL COLLECTIONS website.
For pages that have been updated or newly published in former months and years, go to:
ARCHIVE 2020-2021 Past Digital Additions
ARCHIVE 2022 Past Digital Additions
ARCHIVE 2023 Past Digital Additions
ARCHIVE 2024 Past Digital Additions
ARCHIVE 2025 Past Digital Additions
FORMER WHAT’S NEW – Archive of earlier posts and promotional descriptions of pages, 2015-2021.
COMMENTS and CONTACT
Comments and feedback are not enabled directly on the website. Users may contact the editors through the Pine Mountain Settlement School Office.
office@pinemountainsettlementschool.com or (606) 558-3571.
We welcome your identification of people and activities on our site and, particularly, corrections to the record. Further, we always welcome the addition of materials relevant to the history of the School and the region.
ABOUT OCR TEXT
Some of the texts included in this site have been automatically generated using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. In some cases, these texts have not been manually reviewed or corrected. OCR enables the searching of large quantities of full-text data, but it is not 100% accurate. The level of accuracy depends on the print quality of the original publication and its condition at the time of creation. Publications with poor-quality paper, small print, mixed fonts, multiple-column layouts, or damaged pages may have poor OCR accuracy.
STATEMENT REGARDING PRIVACY
Please read OUR PRIVACY POLICY and contact the PMSS office if you believe we have violated your rights to privacy in our online archival resources.
The manuscript collections and archival records in the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections may contain sensitive and/or confidential information derived from historical archives that may be protected under federal and state right-to-privacy laws and regulations. Researchers who wish to publish and users who may share material from the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections are advised by this notice that the disclosure of certain information about identifiable living individuals represented in some collections within the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g. may be a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy if facts concerning an individual’s private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person for which Pine Mountain Settlement School assumes no responsibility.
